Australians are responsible for the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world 3.

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1 Fact sheet If everyone in the world were to live like Australians, we would need 5.3 planet Earths to provide all the resources we use and absorb all the pollution we create 1. Climate Change The pollutants we pump into our atmosphere are changing its composition and preventing heat from escaping the earth s surface. Today's atmosphere contains 32 per cent more carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases, than at the start of the industrial era. The result is climate change: altered long-term weather patterns. Global warming, a rise in the average global temperature, is one measure of climate change. And it has already begun - global average temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius since 1900, and the northern hemisphere is substantially warmer than at any point during the past 1000 years 2. Australians are responsible for the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world 3. Electricity consumption is the biggest single cause of Australia s greenhouse pollution, with 90% sourced from dirty fossil fuels such as coal 4. Taking action National Recognizing that stronger action was needed, countries negotiated the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding targets to reduce emissions 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by The Protocol entered into force on February 16, 2005, which made the Protocol's emissions targets binding legal commitments for those industrialized countries that ratified it 5. However, the United States and Australia for example have not ratified it. Australia negotiated a greenhouse pollution "reduction target" of plus 8 percent above 1990 levels

2 NSW Abatement Scheme The Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (GGAS), which commenced on 1 January 2003, is a mandatory greenhouse gas trading scheme that aims to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The Electricity Supply Amendment (Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction) Act 2002 sets a State greenhouse gas benchmark expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) per capita. The initial level was set at the commencement of GGAS in 2003 at 8.65 tonnes. The benchmark progressively drops to 7.27 tonnes in 2007 which represents a reduction of five per cent below the Kyoto Protocol baseline year of The per capita amount continues at this level until Individual Greenhouse gas emissions can be greatly reduced in many different ways. Most of the solutions involve increasing the efficiency of our energy use to reduce fossil fuel demand, while maintaining - or improving - our lifestyles 8. Becoming carbon neutral The term Carbon Neutral describes a process whereby an individual or business calculates its total climate-damaging carbon emissions, reduces them where possible, and then counterbalances or offsets the remaining carbon emissions. Offsetting carbon emissions usually takes the form of purchasing carbon credits from green initiatives such as energy efficiency and renewable energy resources 9. To become carbon neutral, an organisation needs to undertake several steps: Assess the current emissions from travel, heating and cooling, production, etc. Avoid identify all activities causing emissions that can be avoided; e.g. replace some travel by video conferencing, install combined heat and power systems etc. Improve efficiency of energy use to reduce CO2 emissions further. Offset only the unavoidable emissions can be offset through investment in appropriate projects. Review Review the strategy annually to avoid more emissions and become more efficient every year, and step by step decrease the amount of CO2 emissions that need to be offset. The target should be to reduce offset to zero over time 10. Reducing emission in the office Office buildings are a significant source of energy use and contribute to greenhouse gas pollution. Lights, heating and air conditioning, computers, printers, photocopiers these are all ways that offices contribute to climate change. Make lighting changes (which can reduce energy costs by up to 50 per cent): Change inefficient lights to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs); Reduce or eliminate unnecessary lighting in reception areas, halls and corridors Swap from centralised to local light switches or install light switch sensors Switch lights off at night and on weekends. Use office equipment more efficiently:

3 Turn office equipment off or activate sleep mode at night and on weekends Delay upgrade of Computers and mobile phones Buy energy efficient equipment and appliances Switch your screen off at lunchtime Use laptop computers (which use 90% less energy) and LCD monitors Keep the coffee in a thermo instead of leaving the coffee machine on stand-by Try to reduce the amount of paper you use in the office. Transport-related emissions Cars In Australia in 2002, cars contributed 43 million tonnes of carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gases, which is 8% of total national emissions. Trucks and light commercial vehicles contributed 24 million tonnes. Together these represent 13% of Australia's total emissions and since 1990 this figure has increased by 28%. Air Travel since 1990 CO2 emissions from international aviation have increased 83% in 2000, aviation was responsible for 4 to 9 per cent of the climate change impact of global human activity the range reflecting uncertainty surrounding the effect of cirrus clouds aviation has by far the greatest climate impact of any transport mode, whether measured per passenger kilometre, per tonne kilometre, per spent, or per hour spent today s passenger aircraft are no more fuel-efficient than those that flew half a century ago the importance of aviation for the economy and employment is far less than its importance for climate change every segment of the aviation industry including manufacturers, airlines and airports is subsidised and enjoys major tax exemptions 11. A special characteristic of aircraft emissions is that most of them are produced at cruising altitudes high in the atmosphere. Scientific studies have shown that these high-altitude emissions have a more harmful climate impact because they trigger a series of chemical reactions and atmospheric effects that have a net warming effect. The IPCC, for example, has estimated that the climate impact of aircraft is two to four times greater than the effect of their carbon dioxide emissions alone. Aircraft emissions trigger the formation of contrails (condensation trails); the long plumes of exhaust that can be seen in the sky behind airplanes. The net effect of these contrails is to trap heat that would otherwise escape from the earth, which contributes to global warming. Studies have shown that night flights have the strongest warming impact, because during the daytime contrails actually reflect some sunlight away from the earth 12. Reducing transport-related emissions TravelSmart offers an employers pack 13 which is designed to be used by Australian employers seeking to encourage their staff to travel to, from and for work in a more sustainable fashion. It draws on the best travel behaviour change techniques from Australia and overseas and empowers

4 workplaces to achieve real and lasting change in the way their staff travel (ie walk, cycle, use of public transport and car pooling). Also consider changing car fleets to fuel-efficient cars. The Green Vehicle Guide 14 helps by rating all new vehicles sold in Australia (up to 3.5 tonnes) against the international Euro standards, which allows users to see how vehicles perform on both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, also offering a list of the top performing cars by category (ie small, medium, ute, van etc.). Fight Global Warming 15 shows how to buy a fuel-efficient car offering several steps to help make the greenest choice. Try to avoid the use of planes as much as possible. That goes especially for short distances. Besides, there is often not much time difference between the train and the plane if you take into account the time you need to get to the airport and the time you have to wait there. If you do have to fly: Try to minimize the number of flights you take by combining trips. For example, book more than one meeting in your destination city, so you don't need to fly there several times. Fly during the daytime, because studies have shown that flights taken at night have a greater impact on the climate. Fly economy, because more people per plane means fewer emissions per person. Pack light, because lighter planes mean less fuel is burned. GreenPower Accredited Renewable Energy Established in 1997, GreenPower is a national accreditation program that sets stringent environmental and reporting standards for renewable electricity products offered by energy suppliers to households and businesses across Australia. Currently there are 21 GreenPower providers selling different GreenPower products to businesses 16. Commissioned by WWF-Australia, the Total Environment Centre and the Australian Conservation Foundation, Green Electricity Watch ( provides an independent ranking of GreenPower electricity products offered by Australian electricity retailers, helping consumers to confidently choose a product that they know will help reduce Australia s greenhouse emissions 17. Offset A carbon offset is an emission-reduction credit generated from another organization s project that results in less carbon dioxide (or other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere than would otherwise occur. Carbon offsets are typically measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, and are bought and sold through a number of international brokers, retailers and trading platforms. Some carbon offset projects are better than others, however. One issue is permanence. For example, although a forestry sinks project may absorb carbon while it is living, a forest is never permanent and may one day succumb to disease, fire, or logging releasing the carbon into the atmosphere once again. Sinks can therefore be only a temporary solution. Also, buying forestry offsets does nothing to lessen society s dependence on fossil fuels something that is ultimately needed to address climate change. Finally, there are significant technical problems associated

5 with quantifying the carbon sequestered in trees or soil 18. Offset companies The retail offset market is growing rapidly. Several dozen companies and organizations now offer the public the ability to purchase offsets in the retail marketplace. These entities generally encourage consumers and small companies to offset their entire personal or business GHG footprints, or to offset specific activities (e.g., airline flights, car travel, conferences, or other events). Describing the offset market is not easy. The number of entities in the market continues to grow, and the dozens of organizations already involved in the market provide widely disparate marketing and consumer messages. Moreover, many retail offset marketers provide little information about where the money is being spent or what criteria are used to select the reductions they sell to consumers 19. Gold Standard As a result of these types of concerns, an international Gold Standard for carbon offsets was developed by the non-governmental community in consultation with governments, scientists, and offset project developers. It provides an independent best practice benchmark for emissions offset projects, and helps ensure environmental and social criteria are met. Only renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects currently qualify under the Gold Standard s criteria 20. The Gold Standard was created to ensure top quality projects under a Kyoto instrument, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It is the most widely endorsed quality standard for designing and implementing carbon offset projects. Gold Standard projects must meet very high additionality criteria to ensure that they contribute to the adoption of additional sustainable energy projects, rather than simply funding existing projects. The Gold Standard also includes social indicators to ensure the offset project contributes to sustainable development goals in the country where the project is based. Finally, all Gold Standard projects have been independently verified by a third party to ensure integrity 21. For a full list of gold standard projects and additional information visit: Pricing for offsetting emission Since the start of the European Trading Scheme (ETS) the price per ton of CO2 has fluctuated between $12 (US) and $34 (US). When making these price comparisons, it has to be taken into account that ETS is a cap and trade system whereas voluntary offsets are mostly created by project based transactions. Comparing the offset companies prices with ETS however, shows that the offset companies tend to charge less for offsets than what their value would be on the ETS market over half the offset companies charge $12 (US) or less per ton of CO2 offset. This might indicate that carbon prices on the voluntary carbon market are currently under valued

6 The price to offset one ton of CO2 varies substantially, however. There does not necessarily have to be a correlation between price and offset quality though. A very successful company will find lower cost ways to reduce emissions so its price might be low. On the other hand, such low costs may reflect low quality projects just as for any product in the market place. There is no readily available metric to evaluate these issues. Even though cost will clearly play a part in a consumer s decision making process, the quality of the offset projects and not cost should be the determining factor. It is more important to invest in high quality offsets than to buy as many offsets as possible 22. Evaluation of Voluntary Offset Companies Clean Air Cool Planet has published a Consumers Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers. The report is intended to identify providers that perform best against the report s methodology, thus offering direction to potential purchasers on what makes a good retail carbon offset provider 23. The Tufts Climate Initiative also examined the rapidly growing market for voluntary carbon offsets. The report focuses specifically on how to evaluate offset companies to offset air travel emissions 24. Companies which stood out in the TCI Evaluation: climate friendly Climate friendly is an Australian-based for-profit company which buys Gold Standard renewable energy credits coming from international projects that produce sustainable energy, offering a long-term solution to climate change. myclimate The non-profit company from Switzerland is based on the concept of voluntary and innovative solutions for climate protection and the promotion of renewable energies and energy efficient technologies. (Swiss site - in English) / my-climate.com (US site) Atmosfair The German-based non-profit company is a specialised provider of offsets directed towards neutralising air travel. Websites Climate change David Suzuki Foundation The David Suzuki Foundation is an environmental non-profit, non-partisan charity registered in Canada and the United States. Since 1990, the Foundation has worked to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us. Focusing on four program areas oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy, sustainability, and the Nature Challenge - the Foundation uses science and education to promote solutions that conserve nature and help achieve sustainability within a generation. An independent charity, the Foundation does not

7 accept government grants and is supported with the help of some 40,000 individual supporters across Canada and around the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Recognizing the problem of potential global climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in It is open to all members of the UN and WMO. The role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - Special Reports on Climate Change: Aviation and the Global Atmosphere Tufts Climate Initiative The Tufts Climate Initiative is the pioneer in the field of climate change mitigation at institutions of higher learning. Tufts University was among the very first to make sustainability a high priority in its teaching, planning, and operations. TCI is continuing this tradition of being a forerunner by choosing the ambitious approach of fostering change on a university wide level. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) ACF is an Australian not-for profit environment organisation funded almost entirely by individual membership and donations. Since 1966, they have focussed on the most important and urgent environmental problems, seeking change with lasting political, economic and social support. Practical advice Climate Action Network Europe Climate Change Pocket Book: What you can do about climate change 50 top tips These are simple, easy ways that can help make a difference, every day and in every area of life Energyoffice.org The site provides information on how to save energy in offices on a daily basis without having to spend (much) money as well as offering aids in implementing info actions. ICARUS Toolkit An 11 point toolkit by The Institute of Travel Management (ITM) which is designed to help corporate travel managers identify why, what and how to measure carbon emissions and give advice on how to achieve carbon emission reduction goals. 7

8 Safeclimate.net Provides an introduction to climate change and the ways that offices contribute to this global problem, seven simple steps you can take to measure your office s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and suggestions for reducing your office s CO2 emissions. This Guide is for officebased organizations that do not undertake any manufacturing activities. The Greenhouse Challenge Plus Energy Audit Tool This tool has been developed to assist non-technical or semi-technical energy managers in small to medium organizations and identify actions to improve energy efficiency through the use of a simple but detailed audit checklist; and develop plans for implementing energy efficiency actions. Travelsmart.gov.au A TravelSmart employers pack which is designed to be used by Australian employers seeking to encourage their staff to travel to, from and for work in a more sustainable fashion. Green Electricity Watch The latest independent review of GreenPower products - Green Electricity Watch has revealed the country s top green energy providers. The ranking system helps consumers to make more informed choices when buying government accredited GreenPower. 8

9 Air Travel impact CO2 Emission in tonnes (one way/return) Adelaide Alice Springs Brisbane Cairns Canberra Darwin Hobart Melbourne Perth Sydney Adelaide x x Alice Springs x x Brisbane x x Cairns x x Canberra x x Darwin x x Hobart x x Melbourne x x Perth x x Sydney x x As calculated with Example: Return from Sydney to Canberra Distance: 473km Emission: 0.2 tonnes $(AUD) to offset: 4.64$ (24.20$/tonne) Return from Sydney to Perth Distance: 6553km Emission: 1.9 tonnes $(AUD) to offset: 47.10$ (24.20$/tonne) 9